Clay Buchholz calls bullpen session ‘the best day so far’

The injured starting pitcher (bursa sac strain) threw another bullpen session, Wednesday, this one including approximately 50 pitches. Buchholz said he amped up the intensity to 80-85 percent with no issues, calling the workout “the best day so far.”

The session — which included all of Buchholz’ pitches, along with some breaks to simulate getting up and down during a game — will now be followed with one more bullpen session, Saturday, and then possibly a simulated game. The simulated game was thought to be the last step prior to making a minor league rehab outing.

“Since that was the most intense that I’ve done anything, just see if there’s any lingering soreness or anything. I don’t anticipate that,” he sad. “I think I’ll be fine for Saturday, probably throw a bullpen and probably do the same things that I did today, the up and downs, then try to see if we can do something facing hitters.”

Despite the progress, Buchholz still isn’t identifying any sort of timeline for a return.

“I’ve already tried that and it didn’t work out too well,” he said. “I’ll just let it happen when it happens.”